Parting Gifts
by ringanybells
Summary: Post Series, LoVe. Logan and Veronica rekindle their romance after she leaves the polls, but something tears them apart. This time, Veronica isn't going to take Logan leaving lying down. rated for language and 'graphic' content.


Veronica stood outside the hotel door. It brought back so many memories; so much of her life had revolved around hotels. Some of the best moments had happened in hotels. She felt a pang in her heart remembering the day she and Logan had reconciled, the day Logan had finally accepted Lynn's death, but at the same time she felt heat flood her body as she remembered her and Logan's first kiss, her and Logan's first time…She stopped herself, it was too painful going down that road.

And now here she was. She hadn't seen Logan for two years. And now all that stood between them was one hotel room door. Her skin tingled at the thought. God she missed him, would give anything to hear his voice, even if it was dripping with venom, as it had been so many times back at Neptune High. But they'd come a long way from high school. She was no longer the vindictive bitch who blamed Logan for so much, and the last time she'd seen him, he hadn't been the psychotic jackass who'd deserved her anger. Oh, how times had changed…

_Veronica walked out of the polling station and into the rain. She was beating herself up. Her rash behavior and stupidity had cost her father everything he'd been trying to get back. After Keith lost the election, she'd more then realized that actions come with consequences. What more, her eyes were finally open. She saw what a huge mistake she'd made. And as always her newest huge error in judgment revolved around Logan. How could she have said those things to him? That day in the hotel room, he'd been right. They lived by rules, a code. He just hadn't gotten it completely. Yes, someone always has to pay, but that wasn't at the heart of it. The truth of the matter was that whether they were friends, enemies, lovers, or exes, Veronica and Logan protected each other. That was the code they lived by. Ever since the beginning, even back when both of their lives centered around the Kanes, they had each other's backs. When Lilly broke things off with Logan, or started fooling around behind his back, Veronica always rebuked her. Whenever Lilly would gush over her latest conquest, Veronica would shake her head, questioning 'how could you do this to Logan?' And though neither told the other, it had worked both ways. When Duncan had turned his back on Veronica without a single word as to why, Logan had stood up for her. It was the first time Logan had ever wanted to hit someone other then his father. How could Duncan claim one minute that Veronica was the love of his life, then just cut her out without so much as a goodbye. Logan had been very close to completely cutting Duncan out of his life, but then Veronica had told Lilly about that stupid kiss, and Lilly had been murdered. And it had gone down hill from there. A year later however, the tables had flipped again, and Logan had raced to the rescue of the girl he'd spent a year tearing down, and Veronica had threatened the life of a freshman to protect the heart of the boy who had made her life hell. So, of course Logan had gone after Piz. He of all people knew Veronica's hesitancy when it came to sex. He had cried for her when she'd accused him of her rape, he had held her when she explained that it was all a misunderstanding, and he'd comforted her when she'd found out the whole truth. And he'd never pushed her. In their three year on-again-off-again relationship, he'd never once made her feel uncomfortable or scared; he'd always made sure she was ready. And he, Logan, king of the Kama Sutra had waited months before even mentioning taking their relationship to the next level. So what other reaction could she have expected from him when he saw that video? Wouldn't she have done the same thing if she'd gotten wind of the video before Logan? And wouldn't she have ruined Parker if she'd done something like that to Logan?_

_And so she set about making things right, first mending bridges with her father. She had explained why she'd gotten involved with the Castle and Jake Kane, conveniently altering the video in the story to one that wouldn't give him a stroke but would still display the reason she'd gone so drastic. Then she'd called Piz. And ended it. It wasn't because she was ready to go running back to Logan. When she stepped back and looked at it objectively, her current relationship with Piz was too much like her previous one with Duncan senior year. In both situations she'd ignored who she was to try and be who she had been. Both Duncan and Piz wanted Veronica, the soft girl who saw everything through rose colored glasses, who occasionally played detective. They didn't want Veronica, the P.I. who hung out with former gang leaders, spent her nights waiting for the money shot, and who didn't know how to turn the other cheek. She was tired of lying to herself, and it wasn't fair to Piz, and she liked him enough to not want him to get hurt. If she had kept up the act, down the road she would have resented Piz and blamed him for living a lie. So she called it quits. And he had agreed, admitting that he had expected something more like what he'd seen between her and Logan, and not what he'd actually gotten. _

_The last thing for Veronica to do was to mend bridges with Logan. She had gone to the Grand and knocked on his hotel door. He had let her in and for the first time she apologized, for everything. She was sorry for overreacting to his treatment of Piz, she was touched that he'd wanted to protect her honor. She was sorry for allowing Madison Sinclair to come between them, Veronica should have remembered how very vindictive Madison could be, and how drunk Logan could get. She was sorry for not listening to him and stepping away from the rapist case, but she had felt so powerless knowing other women were experiencing what she herself had been through. She also apologized for her accusations, admitting that if she could just find something to blame on him, then when things went south, and he left for good, she could console herself. At this admission he'd kissed her, pulling her close. When he'd finally released her lips, he'd leaned in and whispered "I'll never leave for good. I love you. Where you are is always the place that will call to me, where you are is home." _

_They'd kept things slow. The semester ended and summer came. Veronica went to the FBI and Logan went on his surf trip. But he cut it short and flew to DC to spend the last month of the internship with Veronica. Come September they were both back at school, going strong. They'd both managed to become more forgiving, more understanding. Veronica had left behind most of her insecurities, letting Logan have his space and not trying to force him into a new mold. Logan had scaled down his drinking, restricting it to special occasions, and would look the other way when Veronica slipped into her old ways. They made it though Christmas and Spring Break. Logan had begun dropping hints that he might be getting her a special ring come her next birthday and Veronica, for the first time since her stake outs by the Camelot, began thinking that if Logan asked, she might say yes. _

_But then a change in the winds came. The day after their anniversary, a year since the day Veronica had apologized, a night that had ended in some of the best sex of their relationship, the Kanes had once again entered their lives. This time however, it was the long lost Duncan. He'd found Veronica in the library, had thrown his arms around her and pulled her into a slow kiss. Veronica had been so shocked to even see him, it had taken her a second to respond. But Logan didn't see her response; he'd been coming from the back, wanting to surprise her with lunch and had seen their embrace, their kiss. He'd spun on his heel and left. If he'd stayed a second longer, he would have seen Veronica pull away and tell Duncan no, would have heard the smack when he'd tried to repeat the actions. But Logan had been rash and left. He'd figured long ago if Duncan came back, Veronica would leave. So he decided to save her the pain of the choice and himself the heartache of her rejection. He had gone back to the hotel, packed a bag, and left; a note on his bed his only goodbye._

_She found the note later that night. It had been a good thing the semester was already over because she couldn't bring herself to leave her apartment for the next two weeks. She barely ate, rarely slept, and became almost completely nonverbal. All she did was shower, and cry, and ask anyone who would look her in the eye how Logan could possibly think she would choose Duncan over him. She did manage to pull herself together after those first two weeks though. She became determined to track him down, if she could just talk to him for five minutes, she could make him see there was no choice._

_She lasted til the end of June. The long days of searching had caught up with her and all the hard work had left her vulnerable to illness. She caught the stomach flu and could barely get out of bed. But her father, with the help of Wallace, Mac, Piz, and even Dick, kept up her search. All four of them had begun to worry about her. Her switch from practically comatose to Energizer Bunny had them on edge. Now she was throwing up, and the very mention of the Italian food she once put away with gusto had her rushing to the bathroom with her mouth covered. It wasn't 'til the third week of July, and her third missed period that Veronica realized the truth. She been completely oblivious to the other two she missed, one was supposed to have come the week after Logan left, a week she barely remembered and the second should have shown up in the middle of her crazed searching, something that she'd only been thankful for at the time. But number three hit her like a truck. And the little plus sign on the stick only confirmed it. She was pregnant, with Logan's child, and he was no where to be found. _

_The pregnancy only served to spur her on. Her child, their child, would not grow up alone. It would know both of its parents, no matter how long it took to find Logan. So she kept searching, her father and friends helping her, with both the search and the pregnancy. In between doctors' appointments with Wallace, baby shopping with Mac, and la maz with Dick, she tracked down leads with her father. And when she couldn't fly anymore, Dick and Mac went in her place. But Logan had paid attention. He had listened when Veronica talked about cases, and he was gone. No cards to trace, no phones to follow, and his lack of family meant that he had few connections to track. It was almost as if he'd simply disappeared. Veronica refused to give up._

_The birth of the baby came and went. Veronica gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, whom she named Isabelle Lynn. With the baby actually present, tracking leads became more difficult, but Veronica did not abandon the search. And though her friends lost their initial enthusiasm, they stood by her. Dick, Mac, and Wallace would often babysit as would her father. After Isabelle's birth another huge source of help came from Weevil. He'd had experience raising his cousins and siblings so he would often babysit. He would also go with Veronica whenever she followed out of state leads. _

_Two years passed. If Isabelle hadn't come into the picture, they might have been able to convince Veronica to give up the search. But she was persistent, especially when she looked in Isabelle's eyes, eyes that were the mirror of their father's. She knew Logan. even if everyone else questioned it, she _knew _he would want to meet his daughter, to be there for his daughter. And she knew that if she could just see him, he'd understand that there was no other man in the world she would spend her life with._

_Then Logan slipped. He thought that after two years he was fine, that there was no way she could still be looking. But she was and she saw when he used his AmEx to pay for a hotel room in Fresno. She was thrilled he'd resurfaced so close to home. She didn't think she'd be able to sit still through the plane ride, especially because she was so sure that this was really him. She packed her overnight bag and Isabelle's bag and drove to Weevil's. She explained her lead and asked him to watch Isabelle 'til Keith was out of court, where he was testifying on behalf of the prosecution. And then she was on her way…_

She'd come so far. She was a little surprised at herself. It had taken her so long to admit her feelings for Logan in the beginning, but she'd just spent the last two years of her life looking for him, and if it was possible she only loved him more. She raised her hand and knocked.

The rustling on the other side of the room gave her another surge of hope, hope that was all but squashed when the door was opened a crack then resolutely slammed shut again. But she'd seen his eyes, Logan was on the other side of this door and she could stand here all day.

"Logan, please open the door. Please just hear me out." She heard the chain moving, slightly cursing herself for not giving him a chance to open the door on his own without her pleas. But then the door opened and all thoughts fled her mind. All of a sudden she was her old self again, the Veronica who couldn't think straight when faced with the beautiful visage of one Logan Echolls.

He saw her eyes glaze over and smiled to himself. She may love Duncan, but he'd never been able to get the kind of physical reactions from Veronica that Logan could illicit, reactions that sometimes didn't even require physical contact or verbal acknowledgment. "Okay. It's open, Veronica. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little shocked."

She fell back into their verbal sparing easily, not missing a beat, "What that it took me so long?"

"No, actually. I just got back from Europe. I've only been in the States for about 2 hours. You being here so soon means you were searching. It means you _have been_ searching, for two years. I'm just shocked.

"Of course I was searching Logan. You left without a word, and you left for all the wrong reasons. Can I come in? I feel like we have a few things we need to talk about."

He couldn't say no. He was beyond touched that she'd been looking for him. He'd spent the last two years overseas trying anything and everything to forget about her. Art in Paris, writing in England, even a little pretzel making in Germany, he'd done it all. All without a drop of liquor or a single girl. But nothing had been able to remove her from his mind for more then a few minutes. So he'd come back to California, thinking maybe he could just drive through Neptune, and that would almost be like seeing her again. But now here she was, and he was every bit as in love with her as he had been that day in the library, when he'd come with a little aqua bag to ask Veronica a very special question. He stepped back and let her into the room, closing the door behind them. She walked to the one chair in the room and gently sank into it. Logan sat facing her on the bed.

"Okay. So talk." Logan hated using the brisk tone, but was trying to protect himself. He didn't want to get his hopes up only to have her invite him to her and Duncan's wedding or something similar.

"What you think you saw that day in the library, you were wrong."

"So you're denying the kiss?" Anger flared up. She'd tracked him down to lie to him? He thought he at least deserved more then that. "Gee Veronica; it was nice of you to come all this way just to lie to me. Really makes me feel special."

"No, Duncan kissed me. I can't deny it. And there was a brief second when I kissed him back. But that was it. I stopped the kiss and I smacked him when he tried to do it again. I was not in love with Duncan then."

Her words cut him. She hadn't loved him then, but now? He'd been so eager to save himself the pain, he was the one to cause it. He didn't want to hear anymore. "Okay, well thanks for setting the record straight, Veronica. You can exit the way you entered." He stood and walked away, into the bathroom, trying to brush the tears from his eyes inconspicuously.

But she saw. And when she stood, it was only to follow him. She needed to show him what he meant, why she would never go back to Duncan. She'd come this far, she wasn't giving up without a fight. And Veronica knew how to fight dirty. She walked into the bathroom, spun Logan around wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. Their lips met and they both felt chills run down their spines as heat laced through every nerve where they touched. He knew he should pull away, but he'd dreamed of this for two years. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her tighter, melding her to him as much as possible. She took this as permission and wrapped her legs around his waist, causing them to spin. Her butt hit the counter and her back hit the mirror and it was like they were back in the bathrooms of Neptune High. Her hands roamed up his back and through his hair, remapping every inch of his body. His did the same, slipping under her shirt to graze up her spine, sending heat racing down her skin and chills running up her spine.

It was as his left hand came around to the front and he felt her breast, without the encumbrance of a bra that his mind came back to him and he thrust himself back from the counter. Why did she have the power to do this to him? He caught her eyes and saw the same lust and love that he knew was in his. But he was trying to be strong, he looked away. "Please Veronica. Go back to Duncan before we do something you regret later."

Veronica caught two things from his plea. One: he thought she was back with Duncan. And two: whatever they did, he wasn't going to regret it. This was all she needed. She hopped off the counter and stepped toward him, he was already pressed against the wall, so he had nowhere to go. She took his hand and looked him in the eye, turning his face to her own so that he would look at her. "I am not with Duncan. I haven't been since senior year of high school. I do not love Duncan, nor do I plan on loving anyone else. Ever."

She saw the hope flare in his eyes and leaned forward again. This time she placed one chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth, reminiscent of the one she'd given him on the second floor of the Camelot all those years ago. And just as he had then he pulled her back in. This kiss lacked the fever of their last kiss but was just as passionate as their first. They both pulled apart. Veronica knew that she shouldn't waste any more time. "There is something you need to know, before we say or do anything." She reached in her back pocket and pulled out the picture of Isabelle Lynn. She handed it to Logan without a word. Logan took the photo, and felt his heart break. He turned without looking at Veronica and left the room.

Veronica somewhat startled by his reaction took a second to follow. When she reentered the bedroom, he stood on the other side of the bed, looking crushed. Veronica didn't understand why.

"So you don't love him? But you liked him enough to raise his kid? God Veronica, why did you come here?" Logan felt his heart tearing in two. The little girl was beautiful and had so much of Veronica in her. But he could see someone else familiar in there too. He wouldn't let himself look long enough to figure out who it was though. It was a cruel punishment that Veronica, the only girl he would have ever had kids with, was torturing him with pictures of her and Duncan's angel.

Once again, Veronica saw Logan's error. "Logan, no. You have it all wrong. Listen to me. That is not Duncan's daughter. She's my daughter. Her name is Isabelle Lynn." She paused letting that sink in, hoping Logan could put two and two together.

He was confused for only a second more. Not Duncan's daughter? This was Veronica's little girl? Isabelle Lynn…as in his…and then it clicked. He had to choke back the sob that threatened to come out. "This…this is _my_ daughter? _Our _daughter?"

Veronica was instantly around the bed, hugging Logan. If the response in the bathroom had been all she needed to reassure herself that finding Logan was the right decision for _her, _then this reaction was all she needed to know that it was right for Logan and Isabelle too. "Yes, Logan. That is _our_ little girl. Yours and mine."

"But…How old is…how…when…_Alone?_" His brain could barely form the dozens of questions he needed answered. Luckily she knew him well enough to guess them.

"She's a little over a year old. I must have gotten pregnant the night of our anniversary, and I gave birth the day after Valentine's Day. And of course I wasn't alone. I had my dad and Wallace and Mac and Weevil. And Dick." The whole time she'd been talking he'd been studying the photo, wondering how he could have missed the eyes that were the same as his own, the dark hair, so unlike Veronica's, but so similar to his own mother's. Upon hearing Dick's name, he looked up, a little shocked. Veronica couldn't help the smile on her face. "Yes, Dick. He's been amazing. He was even my breathing coach."

Logan felt ashamed. How could he have left Veronica alone through _childbirth_? What the hell kind of a jackass was he? "Its okay, Logan, really. All that matters is that you're there from now on. You didn't know about it. I can't hold that against you, and I won't. I only wish I could have found you sooner. I know how much you wanted us to have kids of our own."

Those words stopped Logan's self-flaying. He looked up at her, and all the lust and love from fifteen minutes ago was back in his eyes. He carefully placed the photo of his daughter upside down on the nightstand and turned to Veronica. She had a small smile on her face. She knew what was coming, and it had been a long two years. He pulled her close, merely laying his forehead to hers. "I love you. I am so sorry. I can't believe I've missed out on two years of our family for being an idiot."

She raised her hand to his lips, silencing him. "Hey, sshh. It's okay. You have the rest of our lives to make up for it. And I love you too, so much." She removed her hand and hesitantly asked, "Are you ready to come home?"

Logan breathed in, inhaling his favorite scent in the world, marshmallows and promises, and uttered three words that made Veronica's heart swell. "I am home."


End file.
